“I just don’t have enough time!” is something that I find myself saying regularly and I hear other people saying the same thing. My problem is that it doesn’t make any sense. What does it mean to not have enough time? There is only the time there is. It’s not possible to “make” time even though people say “just make time!”.
When I say “I just don’t have enough time!” what am I really saying? Now is the time to start telling myself the truth.
Truth #1 about “I just don’t have enough time!”
Most commonly, when I say “I just don’t have enough time” I really mean that I would rather not do the thing in question even though I outwardly say I want to. A typical example would be something like cleaning the garage. I might say to myself or others “I’m going to clean out the garage this weekend”. It seems like that’s my wish but, deep down, I don’t want to clean out the garage, not for a second. So naturally I find plenty of other things to do before I clean out the garage and, at the end of the weekend if someone asks about the garage I state (usually in an exasperated and angry way) “I just don’t have enough time!”.
Worst still, I try and make myself seem like a victim to get others to buy into this and give me sympathy. I explain how I have all these other obligations to fulfill (I’m a victim of the world, a victim of external circumstances) and that’s why I couldn’t clean the garage and people should feel sorry for my plight.
What a load of crap. It all started because I wasn’t honest with myself in the beginning. I just didn’t want to clean the garage and I wouldn’t admit that to myself.
Actually, cleaning the garage can be a good experience. It can be meditative if done with presence. There are lots of world experiences to be had while cleaning a garage, if I’m present enough to take them in. The wonder of the world is in cleaning the garage, just like it is in everything.
Truth #2 about “I just don’t have enough time!”
Another truth behind the “I just don’t have enough time” statement for me is that I’ve constructed my world to be like this, a world where I’m busy all the time. I cling onto this as an important part of myself. As far as my mind is concerned, I’m the guy who is good at a lot of things and really busy doing these, and (being very open here) doing them because I think I’m better at doing them than other people. The busy guy, doing lots of things, is the world that I’ve constructed for myself. I created that. I’m the one resisting losing that. It’s part of me. What would I be if I wasn’t that?
Also, I often agree to do too much and set unrealistic deadlines that I can’t reach and then complain that “I just don’t have enough time!”. Why do I do this? Because I want to please people and be the busy guy, doing lots of things and helping lots of people.
Sometimes when I have moments where I realise that I don’t seem to have a lot to do, I feel a little bit of panic setting in. Who am I if I’m not that smart, capable and busy guy that a lot of people rely on? Who would I be if I didn’t have much to do? Now that’s a scary thought. Some part of me is really worried about that concept and I can feel the fear as I write this. There’s a part of me shouting that I’d never be able to earn enough money if I didn’t have much to do? Wow! Maybe this is all based on fear.
I’ve created a world based on a belief that people can only earn enough money to be comfortable if they are very busy. Hence, even though this is untrue and unnecessary, I’ve created myself to be a very busy person and part of me is satisfied with that.
Time to create a new me
Even without really knowing it, I’ve created the person I am right now. This busy person, worried about having enough, and complaining about not having enough time. It’s time to let this person go.
The real truth is that I can create any reality for myself that I want. It’s up to me. The proof is all around me. People have all sorts of different lives. There’s not one way to live that must be followed. There’s an almost infinite array of possibilities. What sort of life do I want to experience now? It all starts with me thinking about it, conceptualising it and verbalising it (at least to myself), keeping that thought in my mind and then starting to take consistent small actions towards it.
It can’t not happen.
My new truth and my new life
I choose to create a new me that is present, doesn’t worry, has fun, and enjoys life, love, health, success, abundance and joy. As I write this, a part of me is saying “sounds like a tall order” and “good luck with that kid” in a sarcastic tone. I have to ask myself if I really believe I can do this? Why not? The first key is being present.
There is only the eternal “now” that’s traveling with us through our lives.
We can’t do anything in the future. We can only plan to do something in the future. When the eternal “now” reaches that point in the future, we then have to make a choice. Will we do what we planned to do or choose something else?
This is the essence of procrastination. We don’t want to do something now and we choose to do something else. We say to ourselves we’ll do the other thing later. When later comes, we still don’t want to do it so we choose something else again.
All that matters is what we choose to do now.
We all have time. We all have the present. The wonder of the world is right there, in the present. Eternally. It’s always there and never goes away. If I can, I plan to stay in the present and experience everything, even if it seems like a bad experience. What does it feel like? Really feel it. That’s the wonder of the world and it only exists in the present. The present moment that we all have right now.
We are here to be (just “be”) and to experience life. All of this happens now, and that’s all the time we need. If we have “now”, we really have everything.
So the person I choose to be never has the need to say “I just don’t have enough time!”. I am living in the present, having fun and enjoying everything life has to offer with an abundance of love, health, success, resources and joy.
Sounds great. I don’t specifically have to “do” anything to become this person. All I need to do is “be” this person in the present, right now, and keep choosing to be this person (and that’s the hard part!).
I’d love to hear your thoughts on time, your truths, and being present. Please leave a comment below or send me an email.
All the best!
Related Links – “I just don’t have enough time!”
- This webpage lists “I just don’t have enough time!” as a major excuse for mediocrity
- I highly recommend this book by Eckhart Tolle – The Power of Now
- Present Moment Life Choices – the key to life?
I like this article. We have come to believe that if your not doing something ..your lazy. That’s not true. We need to stop for a moment, and just relax and let the life and beauty that is around us in. If our lives are to busy, we will miss a lot of things that are right in front of us.
Well said Jo. I think that happens to me a lot. My life seems too busy, and I’m worried about what’s got to happen in the future, and I miss really good things right in front of me.
Thanks for leaving a comment.